


A New Start

by evaunit0



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: First Dates, Galaxy Garrison, Holding Hands, Love Confessions, M/M, Pre-Kerberos Mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-21 21:43:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12466544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evaunit0/pseuds/evaunit0
Summary: Shiro isn't the best with words, but he could trace stars in his sleep.Connecting the dots, he suddenly has a plan.





	A New Start

**Author's Note:**

> this is deluxe cheese this is deluxe cheese this is deluxe cheese

The stairs were spiraled, but wide enough and firm enough that neither of them were getting dizzy from the ascent. At least not off the heights.

Shiro _was_ definitively dizzy while leading Keith up to his surprise, uncharacteristically anxious about what he had waiting behind the doors at the very top. "You doing okay?" Shiro asked, and Keith nodded, sliding his hand up the rail to trail just a step behind Shiro. He smiled down at him before picking up the pace. "We're almost there."

"Should I be worried?"

Shiro didn't have to turn around to hear the smirk on Keith's face, and he let out a laugh that echoed through the stairwell. "It's nothing dangerous."

Keith jogged forward, letting go of the railing to climb beside Shiro, elbowing him. "Good. I know you hate scary things."

When they reached the top of the tower, they were greeted by two large doors, inscribed with a gold title instead of a room number: _Observatory_. Shiro reached into his jacket, fishing for the key while Keith folded his arms, and shifted his weight onto one foot. "We have an observatory?"

Raising an eyebrow, Shiro unlocked each door, quietly turning over the tumblers. "You've never been?" He knew Keith had never been. He made sure of it. Still, he acted surprised when Keith shook his head. "Then I'm glad I'll be the first to show you."

Whether it was the dim lighting or just his imagination, Shiro could have sworn he saw Keith blush before he pushed open the doors, pausing in the threshold to give their eyes time to adjust to the total darkness.

Keith recovered first. "It's smaller than I thought," He whispered, only taking one step for every two of Shiro's. As Shiro turned to close the doors behind them, a silence settled after their soft thuds. He quickly followed up, "But better. It's... cozy,"

Shiro had to agree. The space wasn't set up like a typical classroom - there were no desks - only auditorium chairs arranged in small groups around the circular room, meant only for concentrated groups of study.

Or Shiro's absurd plan.

He shook off the anticipation. If he didn't do this now, he'd regret it for the rest of his life.

"It gets better," Shiro whispered, Keith silently following him over to the control panel in the center of the room. There was a podium with a multitude of switches and levers - all for operating the system. It took Shiro weeks to master them, let alone even find the time to escape up here. The counter had a mahogany base, matching the great doors, and Keith fingered the polished grain fondly.

"This is really nice, Shiro. I can't believe I didn't know about it."

"Yeah, well," After turning the system on, a low buzz along with the whir of the motor's fans kicked in, and Shiro stepped back, letting the screen upload, allowing himself a half-grin. "I'm not good at surprises, but I thought you may like this one."

Slowly, the room's ceiling began to freckle, budding into starlet clusters spreading across the dome like flowers that only bloomed in moonlight. The room itself seemed to breath, the absolute black fading into the pale purple of space.

Even as a backdrop, the entire atmosphere had shifted, making it hard for either of them to speak.

"How did you-" Keith began, but dropped off after blinking several times, stunned into silence.

Shiro grinned, nervously shrugging as Keith raised an eyebrow. "The keys were actually the hardest part to nick, believe it or not. And I had to invest in Mr. Holt on some of the semantics."

"Couldn't imagine," Keith mumbled, his head tilting on an axis, turning slowly to take in the domed ceiling - completely veiled in the holographic map. Shiro watched him spin like he was his own little Earth, walking slowly around the room and committing every section of sky to memory. After a moment, he looked dazedly back at Shiro, shaking his head. "This is crazy, Shiro. You're going to get in trouble."

He smiled, trying to ignore how beautiful Keith looked in the purple hues. His eyes had never looked brighter, and Shiro felt his cheeks burning. "I don't care. As soon as I thought of it, I knew I had to share this with you."

The brush against the back of his hand was so small, he almost didn't hear Keith's voice. "Thank you, Shiro."

Shiro didn't have to guts to reach out and grab Keith's hesitant hand - a better version of himself would take his arm, spin him around, and kiss him - forgoing a cheesy declaration of love by the sheer intensity of his actions. Like in the movies.

But that wasn't Shiro, and he doubted that was Keith.

Instead, his mind was buzzing at a million different frequencies, all of them drowning out each other until Shiro couldn't think, let alone reply to Keith, or properly speak to him again. His throat felt like a cotton bushel, and Keith looked up at him, drowning under the twinkling projection lights.

Really, he should be used to this by now.

He always had known that Keith would drive him out of his mind. After their initial meeting, he had tried for weeks to get the cadet to smile - and now that it came so easily, so naturally, Shiro couldn't help but _hope_ they were both covering something _more_ up. He had felt it growing over the weeks - Keith letting Shiro carry his books between classes; Keith eating off of Shiro's tray at lunch, or sharing a drink with him out of the vending machine; even Keith finally allowing Shiro to visit his room - nervously sitting on the bed and watching Shiro examine the sparse space intently. Afterwards, Shiro had given Keith some of his posters, and Keith had hung them up the very next day.

He especially felt it the gloomy day they were meandering through the Garrison's garages, trying to have some alone time while cognizant of the overcast weather report. While they were walking, Keith had suddenly jumped - making Shiro freeze as a rover drove plowing by, and Keith impulsively grabbed the back of Shiro's jacket to pull him closer, away from the vehicle.

He was only pressed against Keith's shoulder for a split second, but it was long enough for him to feel how utterly _warm_ he was, and Shiro couldn't hold back a shiver as Keith's hand pressed firmly against his spine.

Immediately after, they both breathed heavily, hearts skipping, before Keith let go too late - a crease already forming where his hand was fisted. "Sorry," He mumbled, stepping aside, and for once, Shiro was grateful that he had looked away. He could feel his ears ringing, and his face starting to steam in the frigid air. Risking a glance down at Keith, he saw his pale skin was tinted pink under his eyes, too, and watched him shake his head angrily. "You could have gotten mud on your uniform, you know. You'd get written up for something stupid."

Shiro swallowed, forcing himself to give a small laugh. It came out choked. "You're right. Thank you, Keith."

Even the late autumn chill couldn't shake off the print where Keith's fingers had touched his back, pulling him. Afraid for him. _Protecting_ him. Shiro flexed his hand, itching to pull Keith back against him; hug him into his chest and see if his body was a perfect match for his.

Shiro kicked himself for daydreaming about it while Keith was still standing next to him.

The rest of their walk had been unbearably silent; both of them thanking the clouds for starting to drizzle, agreeing to head in early as the thin rain wet their shoulders through the padding.

Shiro had walked Keith to his door, slicking back his now sopping hair. Keith's neck was plastered, and Shiro resisted to urge to sweep it to the side. "Don't catch a cold," Shiro warned as Keith reached to unlock his door, and he rolled his eyes.

"I'll be fine, Shiro," The door opened, and Keith almost stepped through the entrance, before turning back. His mouth was slightly frowned, and in his gut, Shiro hated that he couldn't take Keith back to the senior's wing, or ask him if he wanted to hang out in their lounge. But then again, the mere concept of _Keith in his room_ had him reeling. Maybe he wasn't ready for that yet.

In the end, Keith just pushed a wet strand of hair to the side and looked up at Shiro. "Watch where you're walking from now on."

Shiro bit his lip but laughed, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Why? I don't need to when I have you."

Keith scoffed. "You're impossible. Go do your astrophysics equation set - I know you haven't."

"They're boring," Shiro whined, knowing he was stalling. Keith looked ready to argue, so Shiro followed up quickly as Keith's hand reached for the doorknob again. "Library tomorrow, before lunch?"

"Yeah, Shiro, like always," Keith said, offering a weak salute as he went into his room. "But don't leave the problems until then."

The hallway's automatic lights flickered on as Shiro walked back to his room, feeling empty. The prospect of having to do computations was dismal - and looking out the framed window in his room, he contemplated calling Matt, maybe seeing if he could join one of his study groups for the night.

Being alone was somehow unbearable after spending time with Keith.

It didn't take very long before Shiro had shed his wet jacket, flopping down onto his bed and not even bothering to take off his boots. As a rough hour of staring at the ceiling passed, he decided to message Keith.

**S:** _I'm still cold :(_

**K:** _Do your work_

Less than a minute later, Keith had an addendum. _Are you feeling sick?_

Shiro smiled, feeling stupidly giddy over a text conversation. _No I just can't reach my blanket :/_

He could practically hear the head shake in Keith's reply. _Do you need me for everything?_

 _Yes,_ Shiro wanted to say. His fingers hovered over the keyboard before sighing, sending a simple _:P_ before setting his phone beside him on the bed, and reaching over to the nightstand for his stack of books.

Lethargically, Shiro propped open his astronomy textbook on his knees, head hitting his pillow heavily. He'd do anything to have Keith with him helping him study right now. Or doing their homework quietly beside each other. Even _distracting_ him from studying. Deflated, Shiro almost closed his eyes, but knew he wouldn't wake up from a nap until his morning alarm went off, and Keith would be upset over his unfinished work.

Keith was always worried about him in a way that made Shiro feel like their roles were somehow drastically reversed.

Really, he didn't know why it was so easy to quote the exact composition of stars, or memorize the escape velocity equations needed for all known planets - but Keith was by his side every day, and he still couldn't manage to tell him he _liked_ him.

Groaning, Shiro scooted his shoulders up, and stared at his astronomy book that had flipped to the middle parting, where the glossy maps of both sky's hemispheres were detailed, labeled with all eighty-eight constellations.

When he had first started tutoring Keith, Shiro had begun by quizzing him on the stars. Keith was extraordinarily bad at locating patterns, but ironically seemed to navigate sky fields perfectly fine when in the simulator.

"You're backwards," Shiro had offhandedly said, laughing as Keith frowned. "Usually you learn the books, then take it out into practice. I don't understand you."

"But you understand this," Keith said, pointing to the textbook, and looking up at Shiro. "And you can fly better than me. So I want to learn this, too."

Shiro blinked, but relaxed smile, tilting his chin into his hand. "You want to beat my score?"

That made Keith grin. "You scared?"

Shiro remembered feeling his heart stutter for the first time, delaying his reaction. He didn't know if he was flirting or telling the truth when he said, "Maybe I am."

Keith exchanged a wicked look as Shiro swallowed, and he had to stop himself from melting into the first smile he'd ever seen on Keith's face.

Tracing a hand habitually over a couple constellations, Shiro let himself feel sorry for his own predicament. For most couples outside his profession, studying the stars and going to planetariums were romantic treats. A _date_. Not a study session.

Besides, the Garrison's observatory was usually locked - used only for demonstrations or labs about once or twice a semester.

Still, the idea of sneaking in there as a rendezvous was tempting, and he was certain he could write it off to Keith as a lazy tutoring session. The only problem was, he had never done something like this before. He didn't even know where the master key set was, or how to get Keith out past curfew.

In the end, it had taken Shiro a month and a half to get everything together - every tutoring session stirring rose petals inside his stomach as he mapped out every step to right this minute.

And from the look on Keith's face, Shiro thought it was going pretty well.

He reached out his arm the same instant as Keith, both of them timidly knocking hands.

Slowly, Shiro felt Keith's fingers closing around his own, tightening. His heartbeat skipped in his wrist, pumping between their hands, and he swallowed.

"Hey," Shiro whispered, voice dying. "I installed a slideshow," He pointed to the switch beside Keith's free hand, marveling that he wasn't shaking. "Just flip that."

"Okay," Keith said softly, and Shiro wondered if he had a lump stuck in his throat too. He flicked the control, and the screen lagged for a moment before rotating to a different corner of the map, zooming into a cluster of stars.

"The northern hemisphere in winter," Keith said, mouth opening slightly, forming a half-baked idea. "Are you showing me constellations?"

"Bear with me here. I made some alterations to the charting lines," Shiro pressed the forward button on his end, letting the presentation change again, faintly outlining a letter in the sky.

"D?" Keith said, snorting. "You made a new shape on top of Orion - what is this?"

"Just watch," Shiro said, steeling his face, and pressing the button again.

"A," Keith called, as the screen narrowed, singling out the Pleiades.

"T," He said flatly, pulse spiking in Shiro's grip.

"E."

"Not very creative, I know," Shiro said, resisting the urge to bolt out of the room. "That last one was a cheat," He added nervously, "I just used most of Andromeda's makeup, and a few stars in the next galaxy over."

Keith went quiet - a beat too long - and Shiro let go of his hand, turning to fully face him. "Keith, I can't keep this from you and longer, because it's selfish to be with you every day, and not have you know how I feel. I like you, Keith. And if you don't like me, I hope I can keep being your friend, because I care about you first and-"

"Shiro, shut up," Keith sniffed, rushing forward to throw himself into Shiro's arms. He clenched the back of Shiro's shirt again, warmer than anything he had ever felt, and buried his face into his chest.

Shiro blinked, slowly wrapping his arms around Keith to pull him as close as possible. His eyes were wet, but he managed to snort. "Is that how you say yes?"

"Shut up," Keith mumbled again, pressing his face further into Shiro's shirt, breathing softly. "I thought I was dreaming whatever was between us."

"So you felt it too?" Shiro mused, hesitantly running a gentle hand once through Keith's hair. Keith curled into the touch, leaning the back of his head into Shiro's palm, humming. "It's weird, I feel like my whole life revolves around you now. I don't remember what I felt like before you came along."

They held each other for a moment, swaying under their own sky. "Sometimes I feel like I'm desperately chasing you," Keith said faintly, almost sadly, and both of them instinctively tightened their hold. "Like a comet."

Shiro bent to rest his head on top of Keith's, and he knew he would never want anything else but to call this exact feeling _home_ for the rest of his life. He knew there would be a long period of firsts between now and infinity for both of them, but he liked to think they had the time. As he pulled back to hold Keith's shoulders, he couldn't wait to kiss him goodnight for the first time, or hear his first _I love you_ slip out, unprepared.

They had so many things to start with no finish line in sight.

Shiro knew exactly what he was saying when he promised, "I'll always come back to you."

**Author's Note:**

> another thanks to [@ainiyuku](http://ainiyuku.tumblr.com) <3<3 i haven't taken an astronomy class since high school so i hope i got these right asjkfjdfkj
> 
> also i just love dorky shiro
> 
> tumblr: paladinlion


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